Voice placer



Nov. 20, 1928.

E. KELLER VOICE PLACER Filed April 27, 1927 Patented Nov. 20, 1928.

UNITED STATES EVA KELLER, OF PASADENA, CALIFORNIA.

vorcn PLACER.

Application filed April 27, 1927. SeriaLNo. 186 ,917.

' My invention is a voiceplacer to aid a person in learning to sing or in singing to have the proper placing and control of the voice.

An object of my invention is to enable a singer to listen totheir own voice and to detectif it has the proper placement, the tone quality, etc. I

A more specific object of my invention isa device which a, person learning to sing oran accomplished singer may hold at the proper distance from the mouth, such device receiving the sound waves and'deflecting these back so theymay be readily detected by the ear to enable the singer to [ascertain the correct placement \of the voice and the tone by the sound as received through theiear.

The present inventionjmay be considered as an improvement over my patent for-a voice I ,pla cer'No. 1,621,207, issued March 15, 1927.

In the present invention I do not have any .part of, thedevice touch the upper teethbut [the ,deviceis held ata desired distanceaway from the mouth so that the full tone of the singing voice will be collected by reflecting surfaces and resonance chambers. V

In constructing my invention I havea main large reflector whichis held in fixed, relation to the h ndle. This islpreferably somewhat spherical. In front of this lhave another refiector which has the lower part semi-cylindrical and thequpper part hasa spherical curve.v This ,forms, a. species of resonance chamber. Pivotally'secured to the resonance chamber ,isfa hood which has somewhat spherical curvature and forms a combination of an adjustable reflector and adjustable re,- sonance chamber. I I

On the main resonance chamber I havega pair ofjaw typed evices the lower onejof which ispreferably stationary widthe other one pivoted, .so that these may open or close to a greater or lesserextentcto control the relative volume ofsound passing through the jaws 'toithe main resonance chamber. Above the upper jaw is a deflector which may be formed with apertures therethrough, this deflector being pivoted on the front of the main resonance chamber, and connected to said=de flector are vibrating fingers. formed of re- ,silient readily vibratable material.

My invention will be more readily understood, from the following description and drawings, in which: i 2 Figure lis a perspective view of my invenplacer I have a main reflector 11 which is preferably spherically curved, and to the lower end of this Iattach a handle 12. This handle preferably has a forward curve 13 to allow grippingjwith theifirst and second fingers behind the curve, thumb in front,and tip end'14tolplace the little finger. in front of, and thus to holdthe. device 'in.a steady position.

'A main resonance chamber l5isflforn1ed by .a structure 16 which at the lower part 17 is semi-cylindrical, andhas an upper portion 18 with a spherical curve. :This struc-ture'is rigidly connected to themain reflector lland when the back of such structure is vertical, the main reflector ,tilts slightly backwardly therefrom. I

A second reflector and resonance device 19 is connected by a pivot joint 20 to the lateral sides. ofthe resonance chamber structure, and 7 this reflector preferably has a spherical (curvature, as indicated by the nu-j meral 21. The liiie22indieatesadiametrical line-of the sphere, theback portion 23 being cut way so hat. such second eflecto -1, 9 3 be accommodated t0 the curve of the resonance chamber structure 16.

Alower jaw 2l-is-rigidly connected to the side of the main resonance structure 16, this jaw preferably having a front rim 25, side ri1ns26, and aback rim 27, thus forming a hollow recess '28. The upper jaw .29 is pivotally'mounted onabracketSOr This jaw likewise has a recess 31 formed'by the front rim 32, the back-rim38, and the side rims 34, this construction allowingthe upper jaw .to be tilted so as to increase ordecrease theopening betweenthe frontrims of the upper and lower jaws and the spacebetween the back .rims of such jaws.

A deflector plate is pivotally connected to the sides by pivot pins 36 of the resonance chamber structure 16, this having a slight curvature, as illustrated in Fig. 3, and is also preferably provided with a series of apertures 37 therethrough. Rigidly connected to the deflector plate 35 and spaced slightly rearwardly therefrom are a series of vibrating fingers or teeth 38 having a supporting base 39 directly behind the deflector plate 35. There are also depending vibrating fingers 410 connected to the plate or strip 39. These hang downwardly from the lower end of the deflecting plate 35 and when such plate is oscillated or tilted in different positions the vibrating fingers move with the plate.

The manner of using and functioning of my voice placer is substantially as follows:

The device is held away from the month while the singer is producing the various tones in singing or in singing a song, this being held preferably so that the main volume of the sound strikes between the fixed jaw 2s and the tilting upper jaw 29. As above mentioned, the upper jaw may be tilted so as to open or close the structure to a greater eX- tent and allow a greater or a lesser volume of the tone to impinge in the resonance chamber structure 16. This structure acts in effect as a resonance chamber and also as a reflector, part of the sound waves being deflected by the semi-cylindrical part backwardly towards the singer and part of the sound waves being deflected through the partly spherical structure 18, impinging on the pivoted reflector 19. Part of the sound waves pass behind this pivoted reflector, striking the main reflector 11, and also part of the sound waves direct from the mouth strike this reflector which is intended to be held in such a position that the sound will be reflected back to the singers ears.

All of the sound waves directly from the mouth do not strike in the jaws but some of them strike the deflector plate 35. As this plate is perforated, the sound waves impinge against the vibrating fingers -38 at the back of the plate and also some of the sound waves are deflected by the plate against the vibrating fingers 40 and these set up a resonant vibration.

As above mentioned, the upper jaw 29, the deflecting plate 35, and the second reflector 19, are adjustable on the main resonance chamber structure 16 so that the singer can tilt these until the desired effect is obtained. That is by tilting these and holding the whole device in various positions, the singer may place the structure in such a position as to have the sound of their voice reflected back in the desired manner.

Another advantage of my voice placer is that a singer may sing very softly, without any forcing of the voice, and still have the sound reflected back in such a manner that they obtain a proper interpretation as to the production of the tones and by opening the jaws to a greater or a lesser extent and tilting the deflecting plate 35, as well as by adjusting the second reflector 19, slight differences of effect may be obtained.

In the claims where the second reflector 19 is designated as a hood, it is intended that this form a covering over the resonance chamber structure 16, and so shaped as to have a resonance effect to act as a reflector and also to reflect sound waves to the main reflector 11. here vibrating fingers are specified, it is to be understood that other vibrating devices may be utilized and be associated with a reflecting plate similar to the element 35; and also in referring to adjustable jaws it is not necessary that only the upper jaw be adj ustable.

I find a suitable way to secure the handle 12 to the main reflector 11 is by bending the upper end of the handle and securing these parts together by a rivet 41 and the bottom of the main resonance chamber structure 16 has an extension 42 which is secured to the handle by a rivet 43 or the like. This extension has a series of perforations 14 which allow a certain amount of sound to pass through and between the bottom of the structure 16 and the lower portion of the main reflector 11.

Each of the jaws is provided with a groove 45 adjacent the front rim and this increases the relative depth of these, causing them to function in a certain manner as resonance devices.

Various changes may be made in the principles of my invention without departing from the spirit thereof, as set forth in the description, drawings and claims.

I claim:

1. A voice placer comprising in combination a main reflector having a substantially spherical reflecting surface, a structure having a resonance chamber positioned in front of the main reflector, such structure having a wall semi-cylindrical in shape, the upper portion being spherical shaped, and means to hold the main reflector and the resonance chamber structure to receive sound waves produced by a singer and to reflectthese to the singers ears.

2. A voice placer comprising in combination a main reflector, a resonance chamber structure rigidly secured in front of the reflector, and a hood having a curved internal structure connected to the resonance chamber structure.

3. A voice placer comprising in combination a main reflector, having an internal somewhat spherical surface, a resonance chamber structure secured in front thereof, said structure having a transversely curved surface, and an upper partly spherical surface, and a hood connected to the resonance chamber structure above same, the hood being curved somewhat spherically. I

4. A voice placer comprising in combination a. main reflector somewhat spherical in contour, a resonance chamber .structure secured in front thereof, having a lower por tion semi-cylindrical in transverse section and with the upper portion partly spherical, a dome shaped hood pivotally connected to the resonance chamber structure fitting over the top thereof, and means to receive and deflect sound waves positioned in front of the resonance chamber structure. I 5. A voice placer, as claimed in claim 4, and means to receive and deflect sound comprising jaws having an opening at the front and the back.

6. A voice placer, as claimed in claim 4:,

means to deflect the sound waves comprising adjustable jaws having an opening at the front and the back, and a deflecting plate.

7. In a voice placer a resonance chamber structure having a curved body portion, a pair of jaws connected to the open front thereof, means to support the resonance chamber structure with the open part towards the singers mouth, the aws having an opening towards the singers mouth and towards the resonance chamber.

8. In a voice placer, as claimed in claim 7, a deflector plate adjustably secured to the resonance chamber structure and positioned adjacent the jaws.

9. In a voice placer, as claimed in claim 7, a deflector plate adjustably secured to the resonance chamber structure and positioned adjacent the jaws, and vibrating fingers held in a fixed relation to the deflector plate.

10. A voice placer comprising in combination a main refiector somewhat spherical in contour, a resonance chamber structure secured in front thereof, said structure being curved in cross section and having a curve in the upper portion, a dome shaped hood pivotally connected to the resonance chamber structure, and a pair of jaws mounted on the open side of the resonance chamberstructure.

11. A voice placer, as claimed in claim 10, the jaws being adjustable, and having a recess with'rims at the front and the back. there being a passage between the front rims and the back rims for sound waves.

12. A voice placer, as claimed in claim 10, and a defiectorjfilate adjustably mounted on the open side of the resonance chamber structure, said plate having vibrating fingers held in fixed relation thereto.

13. A voice placer comprising in combination a main reflector of partlyspherical contour, a resonance chamber structure secured in front thereof, said structure being curved in transverse section, having a curved upper end and open atthe front, a dome shaped hood pivotally connected to the resonance chamber structure and adjustable over the upper end thereof, a pairof jaws secured to the front of the resonance chamber structure, at least one of such j awsbeing adjustable to increase or decrease the distance between the open mouth of the jaws and the back of the paws, and an adjustable reflector plate positioned above the jaws, said plate having vibrating fingers secured to the back thereof and depending below the rear edge of such plate.

14. A voice placer comprising in combination a structure forming a main reflector, a second structure fixedly connected thereto and mounted in front of the main reflector, said structure being positioned with one edge adjacent the main reflector and forming a resonance chamber, the front edge of the structure having a resonance chamber and the structure havin the main reflector being in planes at an angle to each other.

15. A Voice placer comprising in combination a structure having a main curvedrefiector, a second structure rigidly connected to the first structure having a resonance chamber mounted therein, said resonance chamber having a cylindrically curved wall, the lower end of the second structure being secured adjacent the lower edge of the first structure, whereby the resonance chamber is partly housed in the main reflector.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

EVA KELLER. 

